One Amnesiac to Another
by mysticalflute
Summary: While Rumpelstiltskin, Emma, and Henry are in New York, Charming, the town's former "John Doe", agrees to help Belle, the town's current "Jane Doe". (slight canon divergence)
1. Chapter 1

The word had lost its fun when the curse broke, his power over it dying when the rest of the town had finally woken up from their nearly thirty year stupor. Even so, the man knew they would accept nothing less than that word with what he was going to be asking of them, and, more importantly, their daughter.

"Miss Swan, are you ready?" Rumpelstiltskin asked, announcing himself unceremoniously into her mother's home.

New York, and Baelfire, would soon be in his grasp.

The blonde nodded, turning to retrieve her son and their bags. He turned his attention to her parents, exhaling slowly.

"If anything happens to them - " Charming began.

"You'll what? Drive over the town line and have David Nolan chase after me in his animal rescue van?" he snapped. It probably wasn't necessary, considering the man hadn't said anything, but he was not in the mood for games.

" - I'll be devastated."

He paused, then nodded. "They will be fine. But can I ask the same of Belle?"

Charming frowned. "Belle?"

The former imp sighed. "She won't see me since she's lost her memories, and I do not want her father near her."

The prince nodded, and Rumpelstiltskin was glad he remembered what happened between Belle and her father.

"You though… you could help her better than I could for now," Rumpelstiltskin explained. Seeing as you had amnesia yourself once upon a time."

When Charming still seemed hesitant (although, the man could hardly fault him for that), Rumpelstiltskin sighed.

"_Please_," he finally said.

Charming nodded slowly, and Rumpelstiltskin saw Snow White's hand go to her husband's shoulder. "We'll keep Belle safe. I promise. Especially from her father."

"And Regina. We all know what she can be like around amnesia patients," Rumpelstiltskin said, looking at Snow White and Charming with no amusement in his gaze. That woman had nearly ruined a happy ending.

While Rumpelstiltskin had not been a fan of them in the past (only the love that came with them), he was close to getting his own, and so he finally understood what the fuss was about.

Happy endings were actually very beautiful.

Not that he'd ever admit it in front of Snow White and Charming.

"Miss Swan, Henry, are you both quite ready to go?" Rumpelstiltskin called as he ignored the married couple. He was getting anxious. He had never been on a plane before, and he really wasn't fond of the thought of one, but flying was the quickest way to New York City, and to Baelfire.

"All set Gold," Emma said, she and Henry entering the room with bags in their hand. Rumpelstiltskin noticed the worried look she exchanged with her parents, while Henry just seemed excited about the chance of escaping from Storybrooke.

Not that Gold could blame him – the boy always had a sense of adventure, like the rest of his family did, it seemed. It reminded him so much of Baelfire, his selfless son.

He gave the boy a small smile as he guided he and Emma out the door and to his awaiting car.

New York awaited.


	2. Chapter 2

"Remind me again why I agreed to do this?" Charming asked, looking at his wife as they stood in front of the hospital.

"Because you of all people know how dangerous it is to leave people with amnesia around Regina. And Rumpelstiltskin couldn't put magic around the hospital because of the guy that hit Hook with his car. You know we can't have outsiders exposed to magic," Snow replied, squeezing his hand. "You'll be perfect, I promise. Just remember what Mary-Margaret would do for you when you were in the hospital with amnesia."

Charming sighed. "Yeah."

"I promise Charming, we've got this," she said, squeezing his hand. "Whale will let us in."

He didn't doubt that for a second, but Charming still didn't trust Whale around his wife, even if he knew he had royally screwed up as David Nolan too.

Charming and Snow stepped into the hospital, Whale just coming up to the front desk.

"Whale, we would like to see Belle," Charming said.

The doctor frowned a little. "It's not a good idea for strangers to see Belle right now."

Charming rolled his eyes. "_Everyone_ is a stranger to Belle right now, Whale. And I'm the former resident John Doe. If anyone will get her to maybe be open to regaining her memories, it's me."

Whale sighed. "Fine. Just be careful. She was a little combative when Rumpelstiltskin was here."

"Trust me, that's not going to happen," Charming replied as he made his way to the stairway, and to Belle's room, Snow following behind.

Peeking his head in the door, he smiled a little when he saw Belle was awake. "Hello."

The brunette looked up, surprised. "Oh… hello. Who are you?"

"I'm David, and this is my wife, Mary-Margaret. We heard about your accident. And… I just wanted to offer my help to you in getting your memories back."

"Wait, you were both at the accident site. I remember you," she said, pointing at Mary-Margaret, "coming up to me after that other man did… whatever it was to me."

Snow smiled and nodded. "That's right. And David had an accident that took his memories as well. When we heard from Doctor Whale that you lost your memories, David knew he needed to help you."

Belle smiled at them. "You'd do that for me?"

Charming nodded, moving further into the room and sitting down next to her. "Of course we would," he said. "There are some… not so great characters in Storybrooke that would love to convince you you're not who you really are."

Her eyes widened. "Why would they want to do that?"

Charming shook his head and sighed. "I don't know, but they tried to do the same to me when I lost my memories. If it hadn't been for the sheriff… I would have left Storybrooke without knowing that my wife was right in front of me the entire time."

Belle smiled. "But you two found each other."

"We always do."

"Is there someone out there for me, do you think?"

He saw the way Snow stifled a laugh as a cough behind her hand, but Charming smiled at Belle and nodded. "Yeah, of course I do, Belle."

"Belle? So that – that must be my name. Everyone else kept calling me Belle but I wasn't sure if I could believe them or not," the woman explained, seeming more at ease with the two of them as time went on.

"That is your name. Belle French," Snow said.

"Belle French. That sounds like a – a fairytale name," the other brunette said with a small laugh. "My parents must have loved Disney or something."

But there was something in her eyes. Something that said she didn't fully believe the words that she was saying, and so Charming took a chance. She'd seen Rumpelstiltskin using magic to heal the bullet wound she'd sustained. Maybe she'd been thinking about magic since she'd been here.

"Maybe. Or maybe there's really magic in this world," he said.

Belle froze for a moment. "You – you think I'm crazy don't you? Just like the rest of them."

Charming shook his head, and Snow quickly stood up, going to close the door to prevent Greg Mendel – if he could hear – from hearing the conversation.

"We don't think you're crazy Belle, because you _aren't_ crazy."

"I'm not?" she whispered.

Snow took a seat again. "No. You aren't. Are you ready to hear the truth?"

Belle nodded slowly, and Charming took a deep breath. "Alright, once upon a time..."


	3. Chapter 3

"So… let me get this straight. You're telling me that I'm Belle. From _Beauty and the Beast_. And you're Snow White and Prince Charming from _Snow White_?" Belle asked, staring at he and Snow as if they were insane.

It wasn't like Charming could blame her really. It would be something that would take a lot to get used to. If he'd been in her shoes, he wouldn't have believed anyone that told him that either.

"How is this possible?" Belle whispered. "Why can't I remember anything?"

"There's a curse over the town line, where you were shot. Anyone that leaves town without a magical object will lose their memories," Charming replied. He assumed the reason Rumpelstiltskin could leave town was because of that cloak he'd had draped over his shoulders when he'd shown up at their doorstep to pick up Emma and Henry.

"So it's – it's automatic amnesia?" Belle asked.

Charming nodded. "Exactly."

Belle leaned back in the bed. "This is all so confusing. How can I even trust you?"

"There's a book with our stories in it," Snow said. "I think Henry forgot it, didn't he Charming?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I saw it on his bed before we left."

Snow smiled. "Well, I can go get it then, if you want, Belle."

Belle nodded and smiled, her bright blue eyes looking eager at the mention of a book. "I do love books. I remember that much at least," she replied.

Snow smiled. "Wonderful. Then I'll run and get it while you and David continue to talk."

"Thank you Snow. I really appreciate it," Belle replied with a smile.

Charming smiled as his wife left the room, before he turned back to Belle. "So… what else did you want to know, Belle? I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

He saw her took a deep breath. "I – I guess my first question is… how did you deal with your memory loss?" she asked.

He exhaled heavily. "That's… complicated. This woman, Regina, you know, the Evil Queen from the _Snow White_ story? Well… she cursed us to this place. None of us knew who we were. I was comatose in the hospital because I was trying to protect my daughter from being cursed. When I woke up I had no idea who I was or where I was. But I felt like I needed to get to Snow. So I managed to get out of the hospital and was stumbling through the woods. Snow saved me from drowning. The next day Regina brought in this woman and said she was my wife. There were pictures and everything… and then I got these fake memories by something in Mr. Gold's shop. I got lost on my way to the woods to meet Snow and… Regina gave me false directions."

Belle listened to him, hanging on to his every word.

"Then what happened?" she asked, eyes wide.

"I tried to make it work with Abigail… since I felt it was the right thing to do. But I kept seeing Snow behind her back. But like most affairs, everything went south. Kathryn filed for divorce, and Snow was so furious with me and when I tried to get her to come to Boston with me… she refused. I almost left town and then the curse broke and our memories were restored."

"And everything is… okay with you and Snow now?" Belle asked.

"For the most part, yeah. The curse only broke a couple of months ago so everyone is still trying to get their minds around everything… and find out a way to get home," he said with a small sigh.

"And your daughter?"

Charming smiled. "She's perfect. Just as we envisioned she would be."

"How… how old is she?"

"Twenty-eight."

She frowned. "But you – you don't look much older than that."

"Time here was frozen during the curse… Emma aged. We didn't."

Belle shuddered. "I can't imagine how any of that is real… but somehow what you're saying… just feels right. Did you – did you feel that when you still had amnesia?"

He nodded slowly. "I felt so connected to Snow and Emma that it didn't seem real. But it was. Nothing about Kathryn felt right but these fake memories that Regina gave to me were trying to pull me in another direction. We're trying to help you avoid that, because your loved ones don't deserve to be hurt by Regina's selfishness."

He could see the gratefulness in her smile, and he returned it, glad he could help make her feel better about what was going on.

"So I'm… Belle. From Beauty and the Beast, right?" she questioned again.

He nodded. "Yes, that's right."

"Right… so… where's my beast then?"

Charming took a deep breath. "If I tell you, do you promise not to panic?"

Belle bit her lip, nodding again. "O-okay…"

"Your beast is that man that was with you at the town line when you lost your memories. The one that was trying to heal you with magic."

Belle stared at him. "If… if that's the beast… Belle's true love… then that means I've been – I've been treating him horribly!"

Charming frowned slightly. "Don't blame yourself, Belle. You weren't yourself, and I'm sure he understands."

Belle leaned heavily against the pillows, tears in her blue eyes, and Charming put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Where is he?" she whispered.

"He's in New York, looking for his son," he replied. "He should be back in a couple of days."

Belle nodded. "Is there any way for me to contact him? His cell phone or anything?"

"I don't have his number, but I have Emma's. I can call her and she can give him the phone, if that's what you'd like?"

Belle smiled. "I would like that a lot. Thank you David."


	4. Chapter 4

Trying to get a hold of Emma had been unsuccessful, and Charming wondered if it was because the trio was in the airport. He remembered from his false memories hearing about the difficulties people had getting through security there.

"I'm sorry Belle. We'll try again in a few hours, if that's okay," he said as he hung up the phone again.

Belle nodded slowly. "Yes, thank you for trying David."

He smiled a little. "You are more than welcome."

Snow appeared a moment later, carrying the large book of fairytales into the room with a small smile on her face as she shut the door behind her. "Here you are Belle," she said, gently setting it in front of the librarian. "I'm sorry I took so long. Henry must have hidden it from Regina before he left."

"Regina… the Evil Queen?" Belle asked.

Charming nodded. "And Henry is our grandson."

Belle smiled. "It's funny to think you two are grandparents. You don't look nearly old enough."

He and Snow laughed and nodded. "I think we're still trying to wrap our heads around it," Charming said with a grin. "At least Snow had more of a relationship with him than I did before the curse was in effect."

Belle tilted her head.

"I was a teacher. Henry was one of my students. I was the one who gave him the book to begin with because he was upset about his life. I wanted him to have a little bit of hope. I guess it worked better than Mary-Margaret thought it would," Snow replied with another light laugh.

The Blue Fairy walked into the room suddenly, her wand at the ready.

"Hello Snow, Charming," the fairy said lightly, before turning to Belle. "Hello Belle. My name is the Blue Fairy."

Belle rifled through the book before finding a picture of Blue from the day the curse was cast. "Oh, hello," she replied with a smile. "Forgive me for not recognizing you at first."

"It's understandable. Forgive me for interrupting, but I just wanted to make sure your room was safe, Belle. Especially from Regina. We still haven't been able to locate her or her mother. Everyone has been looking for hours," Blue explained.

Charming frowned as Blue immediately got to work setting up wards and enchantments on Belle's door, and he shivered. It was sad how many lengths they needed to go to in order to protect someone from Regina, but then again, they had gone to these lengths in the Enchanted Forest, and it had led to them being ripped away from Emma and cursed for twenty-eight years of their lives.

Charming was much less forgiving than Snow, and if they were ever sent back to the Enchanted Forest, Regina would be locked up in that tower, stripped of her magic again.

Exhaling slowly so he didn't have to have this awkward conversation with Snow with Belle and Blue in the room, he looked at his wife as she spoke again.

"Belle, I've also spoken with Dr. Whale. If you're fully healed before Rumpelstiltskin gets back, you are welcome to come home with us. Blue can ward our home against Regina."

"That sounds like a good idea," Belle replied. "But what about my father?"

Charming frowned a little. "Well… your father has had some issues too. When he found out you were still with Rumpelstiltskin, he tried to send you over the town line and erase your memories. When we found you, he had you loaded in a cart in the mines."

Belle stared at him. "He what?! Why would my father do that?!"

Charming sighed. "From what I understand, he didn't like your relationship with Mr. Gold – er, Rumpelstiltskin. You'll have to ask him for the full details because I don't know."

Belle frowned. "I do want to know my father, though. He deserves to know what happened to me. What if you both were there with me? After all, if someone is with me, he would be less likely to try something again. Please… I do need my father."

Charming looked at Snow, who returned the look, but nodded slightly.

"Alright Belle. If that's what you want. When you're released from the hospital we'll have your father meet with us at our apartment."

Although David was very uneasy about it, and so when that day came, he would make sure the Blue Fairy was on hand… just in case.


End file.
